Hi Detlef, thanks for these gorgeous samples- I'm curious, what are the round things on the figural hilt of the one in the middle? Do they serve like the metal add-ons found in the figural hilt of other talibongs, or they seem to have been there since the start?

Hi Xas,

First thank you for the compliment! :) ;) The middle sword has a guard from black horn and it's oval. Judging from the patination I belive that it's the original guard or at last a very old replacement. Do you have a guess from where this sword coming exact? Here is the original thread where I have shown it first: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...light=minasbad

Regards,
Detlef

Beautiful items, everyone!
Here is my recently acquired example. A few questions:
- The pommels on these seem to share a similar convention. What/who
are they intended to represent?
- On my example below, I guessed from the condition of the leather, and
comparing to WWI and WWII leather I have on bayonet sheaths, that
this might date from the 1940s, or so. Thoughts on this assessment?
- The edge is beveled only on the one side. This seems to be similar to the
other examples on this thread. Is this always the case, or is it indicative
age and/or locale?

As always, thanks for the information, and apologies if these questions have already been addressed earlier in the thread.

You're welcome, your collection deserves praise haha. My Ilonggo friend said that the shorter talibongs are probably from Negros, while the longer ones are from Iloilo.

Hello mr shayde! I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability and accumulated knowledge so far.

1. The figural hilts represent various deities that can be found in the old, animist religion that was already present before the Philippines was colonized. Certain deities may be indicative of a specific location in Panay Island wherein a particular blade originated. For example, wooden scabbards with the "J" shape plus figural hilts with very long horns are indicative of Aklan. Deities with oblong, horn-less faces with brass accents on the hilt and scabbard have been attributed to Iloilo. And so on and so forth.

2. I'm not good at estimating age, but I think 1940s would be just about right.

3. Visayan blades are usually chisel grind (beveled at one side) even up to now.

Salamat for both, special that the sword in the middle could originate from Negros! :) :cool:

Regards,
Detlef

In short these pommels represent anitos, in your case it's bakunawa.

Like Xasterix I would agree.

Xasterix has stated it already, typical for all blades from the Visayas.

Regards,
Detlef

Thank you both Xasterix and Detlef! This is very helpful information, and I appreciate you both sharing your knowledge.
Best,
-Rob

You're welcome, Rob! I passed on my Iloilo talibong to an Ilonggo blade expert; he's currently on the hunt for more identifiers / indicators that would clearly ascertain the differences / unique features for talibongs hailing from Panay / Negros / and even possibly Guimaras islands. The key lies in surviving tribal octagenarians who can identify the vintage and antique talibong samples as hailing from a particular location. I'll update when the info becomes available.

Hi Xas,

I am curious to read once the result of his research! :cool:

Regards,
Detlef

Panay?
 

Does this qualify as being from Panay.

Halloo there sorry I missed your previous post! Yes I believe it does

A recent addition to the collection. Sadly no scabbard. 65,3 cm long, blade 50,5 cm, 1,4 mm thick behind the guard, 716 gram.

Hi Xas,

Just noticed that I don't answer your question correctly! What you see are something like bullen-nails, a few are new since I have added lost ones. If they are born with the sword I can't say but the present ones when I received the sword had been fairly old.

Regards,
Detlef